Dalhousie Snowfall : Memories of The White Carpet in 30 photos

Books play a major role in creating wonderful imagery of snowfall through the play of words. A gift set of Russian folk tales presented by my aunt when I was a ten-year-old school going kid, created an urge in me to touch and feel the snow, at least once in my lifetime. This urge became stronger when I watched the movie ‘Home Alone’ in the Cinemas, a couple of years later. I wanted to visit a snow-clad mountain or hill station and experience snowfall only in the Christmas season.

And, why? Just because, the snow seemed beautiful around those Christmas trees and against the homes brightly lit with the fairy lights. I am sure a person who has been born and brought up in a place that is dry and humid with a blazing hot sun as a lifelong companion can understand the inexplicable yearning to experience the snowfall. But then, I never knew that one day rather for two winters, I would experience and admire the snow in this way!!!

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Snowfall in Dalhousie

Memories have a way to make personal time travel, race against aeons and lodge one into the past making him or her feel rejuvenated as many weary years are dusted off on this journey. They hold a special role in the lives of nomads like me who keep hopping from one place to another every couple of years. And, I am sharing some fond memories of the very first Dalhousie snowfall witnessed by me in the second week of December, a couple of years back.

For the uninitiated, Dalhousie is a quaint hill-town in the lap of the Pir Panjal in Himachal Pradesh, India. You may want to read about this beautiful town of Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh

My very first experience with snow

Blanketing of Dalhousie in white started slowly, silently and stealthily during the wee hours of darkness in the first week of December that year.

By dawn, all around there was almost 3 feet deep snow and the snowflakes were still gliding down from the heavens as white glitters.

The view just outside our house looked like a canvas with a ‘Black and White’ painting painted by the feathery white crystals.

The steps leading to the lawn in front of our home seemed to be ‘The Steps’ to heaven as the white layer diligently and carefully covered every step from left to right without an iota of doubt!

We expected a blizzard that morning. But, thankfully, the snowfall stopped at around 11 AM. Quickly, we stumbled out of our shells. The view outside was one of monochrome as the sun was still nowhere to be seen.

Soon, the meek winter sun snuggled past the clouds and blessed the peaks of the mighty Dhauladhars. Though, the feathery flakes were still gliding over Dalhousie.

The Dalhousie Snowfall stopped momentarily and the sun-god blessed us too. We found this the perfect time to walk through the white field, capturing the paradise all around with a hot-piping cup of coffee and some lip-smacking momos from the food joints at GPO. The Bakrota hills looked like a frozen piece of concrete from the hills of Moti-Tibba.

Mesmerised with the white and black painting of the day, we decided to walk through the whiteness around. We discovered the dotted houses of the Sadar Bazar under a white blanket of Dalhousie Snowfall!

Unlike the other snowclad places of Himachal, the popularity of Dalhousie Snowfall is not widespread. Owing to this, the quaint town looked clutter-free of tourists and the touristry vehicles at least on the first-day post- a snowfall.

Each step of the well-trodden path was carefully blanketed with layers and layers of glistening flakes by Mother-Nature! It looked like the flakes knew where to fall and in what quantity to occupy their place on earth.

Every turn and bend, every nook and corner was an extrapolation of a beautiful canvas waiting to be explored owing to the Dalhousie Snowfall.

A walk along the Subash Chowk left us gaping in awe. The Dalhousie Snowfall had submerged everything under the colour of purity…The Sacred Heart Convent glowed with its colonial architecture and white snow.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ6JZYIgOi_/?hl=en&taken-by=polkajunction

And it looked like not just the town but even the flowers and trees loved the whiteness and enjoyed the hibernation as a result of the Dalhousie Snowfall. The leaves of the pines and deodars looked as if they were dusted with chalk powder!

The lovely rhododendrons too weighed down humbly by the canopy of colourless and looked like sugar coated white cotton candies!

Indeed a sight to behold and introspect as everything stands still, wrapped in milky-white.

Can the majestic peak of Dainkund be left behind in a Dalhousie Snowfall?

Dainkund Dalhousie in Winters

The very next day as the mighty sun was shining brightly in the azure skies and the roads were cleared, we managed to reach the peaks of Dainkund. Just one word to describe the spectacle from there: Paradise!

Let the photos do the talking of appreciating the vistas from all directions…

Mesmerizing, isn’t it?

Scroll further if you want a glimpse of the vistas around the Bakrota hills, of the colourful hamlets, the white meadows as the snow melted and the day ended…These photos were taken a week post the first Dalhousie snowfall.

The terrace farms were submerged in white while the greenery underneath tries snuggling under the snow carpet. 

The colourful hamlets and the white meadows were a treat to watch…

Everything around us looked unexploited and we thought twice before stepping on the white meadow. We ventured into an area where the local people had already left their foot imprints. We just could not get ourselves to muddle and disorient the well-laid snow layers!!!

The melting snow paved the way for the gushing streams that carried pure water down the slopes…leaving behind a thought that- Our lives are similar to these snowflakes. Let us cherish this journey before it melts away!

The snow-clad peaks of the Dhauladhar range looked spectacular at dusk.We reached home after a long day of catching the town blanketed in white but then stood mid-way to capture this spectacle! I know I cannot get enough of the snow.But, I am more than happy that my childhood desire of touching the snowflakes and experiencing snowfall around Christmas came true 🙂

Hope you enjoyed catching glimpses of the Dalhousie Snowfall in these 30 photos as much as I experienced ecstasy in capturing them!

The winters in the mountains can be awesome yet gruesome. So, why not brace yourself with these tips and tricks: 10 Tips and Tricks to stay safe in Indian Winters

You may also read about the Dainkund Trek 

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